Wheaton suffers double-digit setback in non-league action at Keene State

KEENE, NH- The Wheaton College men's lacrosse team stayed even with host Keene State College for the first eight-plus minutes before giving way to a 7-0 run and falling by a 20-8 count on Thursday afternoon at the Owl Athletic Complex.

The Lyons dropped their first game of the young season in falling to 1-1, while the Owls won for the second straight time to move to 2-1.

Sophomore Billy McNamara (Mansfield, MA/Northfield Mount Hermon School) led the Wheaton attack for the second straight game with three goals, while junior Chris Landers (Manchester, MA/Proctor Academy) turned in five points with a goal and four assists.  Senior Warren Garceau (Guilford, CT/Canterbury School) finished with 12 face-off wins and 10 ground balls, and classmate Schuyler Horn (New Hartford, CT/Kingwood-Oxford School) had 12 saves in net.

Keene State sophomore Griffin Meehan (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury) led all scorers with six goals and two assists, freshman Taylor Jette (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury) tallied a pair of markers and two helpers, while senior Jamie LeSage (Exeter, NH/Exeter) scored once and added two assists.  Four other Owls contributed two goals.  Junior Alec Corliss (Waltham, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) and freshman Jason Leser (Brewster, NY/Brewster) split halves between the pipes, with Corliss picking up five saves in the win.  Lesser turned aside nine shots in the second half.

Senior Drew Schaffer (New Haven, CT/Loomis Chaffee School) knotted the game at one 2:39 in before classmate Tim Horan (Cheshire, CT/Cheshire) evened the score at two with 6:56 to play in the first.  The hosts responded with a flurry of goals, scoring 28 seconds after the Horan tally while taking the lead for good.  Keene State's scoring burst included five goals over 3:36, as the Owls carried a commanding 8-2 advantage into the second quarter.

McNamara found the back of the net twice in the second, including making the score 11-5 with 6:48 remaining, but Keene State scored its second man-down goal of the game with 42 ticks on the clock to take a 12-5 halftime advantage.  The Owls extended their lead to 15-5 thanks to three straight tallies to open the third before eventually completing an 18-4 run midway through the fourth for a 20-6 cushion.

The Lyons don't return to action until Thursday, March 25, when they host New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) foe Colby College at 4:00 p.m.